ADDRESS FOR A COMMISSION. (Hansard, 22 June 1869)

§ THE MARQUESS OF TOWNSHEND

rose to move an Address to Her Majesty for the issue of a Royal Commission to inquire into the operation and administration of the Laws for the Relief of the Poor in England and Wales. He thought the necessity for some alteration in the present law was too manifest to require much argument. Much had undoubtedly been done by the Poor Law Act of 1834, but a great deal still remained to be done. Instances of maladministration were daily brought under public notice and Social Science Congresses had discussed the subject, declaring that reform was very urgently needed; that nothing could be more unsatisfactory than the present administration of the Poor Law; that vast sums were spent in the relief of undeserving persons, while much real distress was unrelieved. The law professed to secure food, clothing, and shelter to all in distress; yet the streets were infested by beggars, and the feelings of the public were frequently harrowed by tales which were often too true, of deaths from cold and starvation. A foreigner hearing these things must be astonished to find what a mass of misery and want was unattended to in a country which boasted of its high civilization. He understood that Her Majesty's Government were opposed to the appointment of a Commission, and he regretted that they had come to such a decision. His opinion was that no Bill that could be introduced on the subject would prove adequate to remedy the evils complained of, unless it was preceeded by a full and ample investigation by a Royal Commission. Taking into account the magnitude of the distress which prevailed and the number of years during which things had been in an unsatisfactory condition, he thought the Government ought to take upon themselves the responsibility of some action similar to what he had suggested.

§ EARL GRANVILLE

begged to remind the noble Marquess that full and frequent inquiries had taken place of 400 late years on the subject of pauperism and the action of the Poor Laws. Committees sat upon the question in the years 1861 and 1865; the facts of the case had been exhausted. The facts that these inquiries had elicited were before the public, and the very anxiety of the noble Marquess that there should be prompt action on the subject was one of the strongest arguments that could be adduced against going over the whole investigation again, as would be the case were the Commission appointed. It was really the duty of the Government, assisted by both Houses of Parliament, to deal with the question, instead of referring it to a Royal Commission, which would merely accumulate facts already well known.